He knows pleated slacks, family facts

On his day off, Howard Karman sits at his desk making phone calls. The retail salesman has a lot of dialing to do. He's got more than 200 regular customers from all over the country.

"I've been a clotheshorse since I was 10 years old," says the 54-year-old Mark Shale sales associate, who works in the downtown Chicago store on North Michigan Avenue. Sharply dressed with graying hair, Mr. Karman is the top salesman in the retail chain's men's division.

"Anybody can run a floor and sell to foot traffic, but what sets Howard apart are the relationships he builds," says his store manager, James Blaikie. "Not only have several of his customers shopped with Howard for most of their adult lives, but their children have shopped with him for all of their adult lives."

Mr. Karman, who declined to disclose his commission or the amount he generates in sales, has been with the Chicago-based clothier since 1987. And if there is one thing he has a lot of  besides customers  it's experience.

Mr. Karman has learned how to make a sale. Once he has an idea what a customer is looking for, he inundates him with suggestions.

"I keep showing them product until they've been totally satiated," Mr. Karman says. "I talk about the clothes in detail. I explain the difference between two-button jackets and three-button jackets, between flat-front pants and pleated slacks."

REPEAT CUSTOMERS

Thanks to his genuine interest in their lives, most of Mr. Karman's customers return to buy from him again. In building these relationships, Mr. Karman focuses on follow-up. He calls to make sure a customer is satisfied with a new purchase or alteration and when he spots a new suit that's just a customer's style. Sometimes he picks up the phone just to say hello and ask about a customer's family.

Such persistence explains why Mr. Karman has hundreds of customers in 47 states, from Florida to California. He estimates that 75% of his business comes from regular customers.

Generating this type of repeat business is more common among high-end clothing and specialty stores, says Robert Zeithammer, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Chicago.

One of Mr. Karman's most loyal customers is a physician from Montgomery, Ala., who wandered into Mr. Karman's department in 1993. The doctor was so impressed with Mr. Karman that he made him his permanent clothier, despite the distance. "I send him clothes and shop for him at least three or four times a year," Mr. Karman says. "I know his tastes. In the 11 years that I've been sending him clothes, he's kept 99% of them."